Let’s be honest. When you think about games about the vikings, you probably picture a massive, bearded dude screaming at the sky while wearing a helmet with giant horns. You’re thinking of blood, mud, and probably a heavy metal soundtrack. It’s a vibe. I get it. But if you actually look at the history of how the Norse are portrayed in digital media, there is a weird, widening gap between the "pop-culture Viking" and what we actually know from the archaeology.
We are currently in a golden age for this specific niche. Whether it’s the massive AAA spectacle of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla or the brutal, low-fi survival loops of Valheim, the industry is obsessed with the North. But why? Is it just the axes? Not really. It’s the tension between the settler and the raider.
The Myth of the Horned Helmet
The most frustrating thing for any history nerd playing games about the vikings is the gear. You’ve seen it a thousand times. Every character looks like they just walked out of a biker bar in the 1970s. Leather straps everywhere. Fur capes that would be impractical in a real fight. And those damn horns.
Fun fact: there is zero evidence that Vikings ever wore horned helmets in battle. Zero. It’s a Victorian-era invention, mostly popularized by Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle operas in the 1870s. If you went into a shield wall wearing horns, you’d basically be giving your opponent a convenient handle to snap your neck.
Yet, developers keep putting them in. Why? Because they look cool. Skyrim is a prime offender here, though to be fair, the Nords aren't technically Vikings—they’re just "Viking-flavored." But even in more "grounded" titles, we see this push toward the aesthetic of "cool" over the aesthetic of "correct."
Real Norse warriors were obsessed with status. They didn’t wear dull, muddy rags. They wanted bright colors. Blues, reds, and yellows were high-status. They loved silk if they could get it from trade routes reaching as far as Constantinople. If you want to see a game that actually tries to capture the color of the era, you have to look at smaller projects or specific mods for Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord.
Why Valheim Changed Everything
In 2021, a tiny team at Iron Gate Studio released Valheim. It exploded. It wasn't just because we all had nothing to do during lockdowns. It’s because it captured the spirit of the Norse myths rather than just the history.
📖 Related: Path of Exile 2 Early Access: Why It’s Actually Changing How We Play ARPGs
It’s a survival game, but it’s really a game about building a home in a hostile world. That is the core of the Viking experience. Most games about the vikings focus entirely on the "Vikingr" part—the actual act of raiding. But the Norse were primarily farmers, traders, and lawyers. Yes, lawyers. They had incredibly complex legal systems called "Things."
Valheim makes you chop wood. It makes you smoke meat. It makes you worry about the structural integrity of your longhouse roof so it doesn't collapse during a thunderstorm. It feels more "Viking" to sit by a hearth you built yourself, listening to the rain, than it does to mindlessly click on English monks in a stylized raid.
The Problem with Assassin's Creed Valhalla
Ubisoft tried to do it all. They wanted the history, the myth, and the modern sci-fi wrapper. The result? A massive, gorgeous, but fundamentally confused game. Assassin's Creed Valhalla is arguably the biggest of all games about the vikings, yet it struggles with its own identity.
The game tries to make Eivor a "noble" raider. You burn down monasteries, sure, but the game is very careful to show that you aren't really hurting the civilians. It’s a sanitized version of history. Real Viking raids were terrifying, fast, and brutal. They weren't "liberating" England; they were looking for silver and land.
However, Ubisoft did get one thing very right: the landscape. The way the Roman ruins are scattered across the English countryside, repurposed by locals who no longer understand how to build them—that’s accurate. It captures that "Dark Age" feeling of living in the shadow of a fallen giant.
God of War and the Mythic Shift
We can't talk about this without mentioning the 2018 God of War and its sequel, Ragnarök. These aren't historical games. They are purely mythological.
What’s fascinating here is how they flipped the script on the gods. In most games about the vikings, Odin is the wise All-father and Thor is the heroic protector. Sony Santa Monica turned that on its head. Their Odin is a paranoid, manipulative cult leader. Their Thor is a grieving, alcoholic wreck.
This actually aligns better with the Poetic Edda than the Marvel version of these characters. The Norse gods were flawed. They were mortal. They knew they were going to die. That sense of "inevitable doom" is what scholars call Ragnarök, and it’s a theme that permeates the best games in the genre. It’s not about winning; it’s about how you face the end.
The Strategy Side: Managing the Horde
If you prefer a bird's-eye view, the strategy genre has some of the most mechanically interesting games about the vikings.
👉 See also: Why PoE 2 Unique Belts Change Everything About Your Endgame Build
- Northgard: It’s basically "Viking Settlers of Catan." You manage resources, survive winters, and deal with mystical threats. It nails the "resource management" aspect of Norse life. Winter is your biggest enemy, not the guy with the axe next door.
- Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia: This one is for the history buffs. It focuses on the Great Heathen Army's invasion of England. It’s clunky in spots, but it shows the political reality of the era—shifting alliances, Danelaw boundaries, and the struggle to maintain control over a foreign population.
- Crusader Kings III: If you want to experience the "Great Summer Army" or try to keep your Norse faith alive while Christianity sweeps across Europe, this is the gold standard. It deals with succession, which was a nightmare for real Vikings.
Misconceptions We Need to Drop
Let's clear some things up. Vikings didn't drink out of skulls. That's a mistranslation from an old poem where a character drank from the "curved branches of the head"—which means horns.
They also weren't a single "race." The term "Viking" was a job description, not an ethnic identity. You went Viking. You weren't born a Viking. Games about the vikings often treat them as a monolith, but a Norseman from what is now Sweden had a very different life from one in Norway or Denmark.
And the hygiene? They were actually incredibly clean for the time. Archaeologists find more tweezers, combs, and ear-spoons (yes, for earwax) in Viking graves than almost anything else. They bathed weekly, which was a lot compared to their neighbors. If a game shows a Viking covered in permanent face-dirt and matted hair, it’s lying to you for the sake of "grit."
The Tactical Reality of Shield Walls
Most games suck at combat. There, I said it.
In a real Viking-age battle, it wasn't a series of 1v1 duels like you see in For Honor. It was a shield wall. It was a shoving match. It was terrifying, claustrophobic, and slow. Expeditions: Viking (a tactical RPG) gets closer to the feel of this by making positioning and shields actually matter.
If your shield breaks in that game, you’re basically dead. That’s accurate. A Viking’s shield was his most important tool, often more so than his sword. In fact, most people used spears. Swords were incredibly expensive. They were heirlooms. If you see a game where every grunt has a shiny steel longsword, the economy of that world is broken.
What's Next for the Genre?
We are seeing a move toward "survival-plus." It’s no longer enough to just have a Viking skin on a generic game. Players want the seafaring.
The ship technology of the Norse was their "superpower." Their longships had such shallow drafts they could sail up rivers that other ships couldn't touch. This allowed for the element of surprise. Very few games about the vikings actually make the boat feel like a character. Valheim does it okay, but the physics can be wonky. I’m waiting for a game that treats the longship with the same reverence the Norse did—as a living thing, a "wave-steed."
How to Choose Your Next Viking Game
Don't just buy the one with the best graphics. Think about what part of the "Viking" fantasy you actually want to inhabit.
If you want the power fantasy of being a demi-god, go for God of War. If you want to feel the chill of the North and the satisfaction of building a community from nothing, Valheim is your best bet. For the political junkies, Crusader Kings III with the Northern Lords DLC is unparalleled.
The reality is that games about the vikings will always lean into the myths because the myths are catchy. They provide a clear "brand." But the real history—the trade routes to Baghdad, the female warriors (Birka grave Bj 581 proves they existed, though their frequency is debated), and the complex legal codes—is actually much more interesting than the "barbarian" trope.
Actionable Steps for Players and History Buffs
- Look for the "Historical" settings: In games like AC Valhalla, check the "Discovery Tour" mode. It strips away the combat and lets you walk through a museum-like recreation of the world. It’s often more accurate than the main game.
- Check the Modding Scenes: If you play Skyrim or Bannerlord, look for "Historical Norse" armor packs. Community modders often do more research than the original developers.
- Read the Source Material: Before playing your next game, skim the Saga of the Volsungs. It’ll give you a massive leg up on understanding the references and the mindset of the characters you're playing.
- Support the Indie Scene: Games like Dead in Vinland or Northgard take more risks with the "Viking" formula than the big studios do.
The "Viking" era only lasted about 300 years. It’s a tiny blip in human history. But through these games, we’ve turned it into a permanent part of our digital mythology. Just remember to take the leather armor and the horned helmets with a massive grain of salt. Or better yet, a horn of mead.
Next Steps for Deep Diving:
- Examine the Birka Grave Study: Research the DNA analysis of grave Bj 581 to understand the real role of women in Norse warfare, which many games are now beginning to incorporate.
- Compare Map Scales: Open the map in Assassins Creed Valhalla and compare it to a real topographical map of 9th-century England to see how developers "compress" geography for gameplay.
- Track the "Survival" Trend: Monitor upcoming releases on Steam tagged with "Viking" and "Survival" to see how the Valheim influence is shifting the genre away from pure action.